


Rippling Waters

by ashatasha



Category: Free!
Genre: Age Swap, Butterfly Effect, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-20
Updated: 2014-07-20
Packaged: 2018-02-09 16:27:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1989774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashatasha/pseuds/ashatasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In one universe, such as the one we're fond of, Matsuoka Rin is a first born child, growing up to be a fine swimming machine.  In another, Matsuoka Gou is born first, and the world shifts from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rippling Waters

When Gou is 5, her father dies.

She doesn't remember him, not really.  If she strains her memories, sometimes she might imagine a shock of black hair peppered with silver, impressive muscles, and a gentle smile Dad saved just for their small family.  Warm hugs are scattered throughout her short life, and she can close her eyes and pretend that he'll return by the end of the week, back from one of his fishing trips.

At least she has some idea of what Dad was like.  Rin doesn't even remember their father at all.  Their father went on fishing trips often, and came home late at night smelling of fish and sweat.  By then, Rin would be tucked in and fast asleep.  She wasn't snoring most of the time because she pinched herself to stay awake.

He likes-- liked swimming, she thinks dazedly, not sure where her thoughts were going.  Just a month before his death, Dad brought them all to the beach.  He taught her how to swim while Mom held Rin aloft in the water.  They had a lot of fun that day, jumping above waves and collecting the prettiest of seashells.  

Rin tugs at her hand, turning his wine-red eyes toward her.  They're wide, and his confusion is obvious.  "Gou-nee-chan?  What..." he trails off, staring at the procession in front of them.  He still has that habit of stopping in the middle of a sentence, but Kou understands him perfectly well.  He's been asking the same thing ever since the funeral procession started.

"Onee-chan?" he asks again, and reaches up to wipe her cheeks, which are wet from tears.  When she doesn't reply, he frowns, just so, and clings to her arm again.  "Don't cry..." he mumbles.

She grips his hand tightly, and manages to summon a wobbly smile for him.  Gou can still see men sliding her father's casket into a chamber, and Mom's tear-stained face.  An uncle's sympathetic face comes to mind, when Mom was still crying and not quite able to fully function.

When she looks up again, her vision is blurry with tears and all that's left of her Dad are ashes and bones.

~*--*~

Later that year, Gou convinced their mother to let her join the local swim club on the promise that she'll teach Rin to swim when he turns 4, and that's when the wheels of change turn.

**Author's Note:**

> Slow start so far, but hopefully things will pick up in later chapters. Basic premise is that Gou is born before Rin. I think this is an interesting concept, because a person is shaped through history. Rin doesn't remember his Dad, so would he be so insistent on finding that sight "he's never seen before"? What about Gou? How would this effect their relationship with others?
> 
> I did some research for the fic, although I don't know how well I portrayed the information. Link(s) are:
> 
> http://www.funerals-and-flowers.com/japanese-funeral.html 
> 
> Also, this will be crossposted to my tumblr at a later date. Tumblr name is loner-writer, so check that out if you feel like it.


End file.
